Home
As Phil Parkinson takes a closer look at his players during their Scandinavian training camp, chief football writer Marc Iles examines how the role of pre-season has changed for the club in recent years.
Wanderers are heading into Europe at a time when fashion dictates they should be going the other way.
Swapping the windy open plains of Lostock for the modest, but immaculate, Swedish suburb of Orlov, Phil Parkinson has a full week to really suss out what he has inherited with the Whites.
Pre-season tours were traditionally a bonding exercise for new signings to get to know their team-mates, for camaraderie to be formed before the serious action begins. But in recent years, Wanderers have used the time to test their players in isolation, with merry-making kept to a bare minimum.
Recent arrivals Mark Beevers and Chris Taylor were on the plane to Copenhagen on Sunday evening and – it is hoped – at least one more player will be booking a flight this week.
Establishing a rapport between the squad will be an important aspect of the trip, not least for the backroom staff who are themselves newcomers to the club.
Parkinson will also want to make his mark on the training ground, installing some much-needed discipline and shape to the team he has inherited, a blueprint for the future.
For the last few years Wanderers have favoured out-of-the-way locations in the Austrian Alps, a secluded Spanish academy or the conservative surroundings of Sweden to get the bulk of their physical work done.
Prior to Parkinson, Neil Lennon and Dougie Freedman, Owen Coyle placed greater emphasis on the facilities and so favoured a trip to North America two years running. Over in the US and Canada Wanderers were able to use some extraordinary college bases – and even picked up some silverware (The Carlsberg Cup) with a win in Toronto.
Coyle’s training camps, as you might expect, were jam-packed with activities to keep the players entertained and the levels of competitiveness high.
Travelling those distances did create its own issues, however, and it is noticeable that after a few years spanning the globe the club has sought closer bases in Europe.
Occasionally, circumstances dictated that a late booking was required. Memorably, Gary Megson’s Whites were left training in the blazing hot Greek sun in 2008 because they could not secure a tour in a more moderate climate, not knowing whether their Premier League future would be secured until the final day of the previous season.
Once Megson was able to pick his own destination he opted for a hugely-structured tour of Germany and Holland, organised by his assistant Chris Evans. What the trip lacked in excitement was certainly made up for in physical toil and players who accompanied Wanderers on that tour still talk about how tough it was.
The last time the Whites visited Scandinavia was under Freedman. A well-planned trip certainly had an element of fun, with players divided up into teams for the 10 days to compete in a mini-Olympics. But the Scot – like Parkinson – wanted desperately to impose a new tactical approach on the training ground. His chief problem was that the lynchpin, Lukas Jutkiewicz, was still back home in the UK and set to sign for Burnley.
Lennon’s only pre-season was spent hiking up and down the narrow lanes of Pollau, Austria. The intense speculation over the Leicester City job at the time ensured that camp was a testing one for us media types, and his preparations bizarrely came under fire from Dutch fitness expert Raymond Vernheijen on social media.
This season has been an exercise in guess-timation. Two friendlies were booked against HB Koge and FC Helsingor and a base in Malmo without a manager in place. Once he had his feet under the table, Parkinson felt the competitive friendlies were arriving too early and so asked that the Koge game be cancelled.
At Bradford, the new Wanderers boss based his side in Ireland and Scotland to minimise travel and disruption – which might well hint at his plans for next summer.
Whereas the social aspect of a tour once outweighed the physical, this week’s trip will be no picnic. Parkinson and his staff have looked forward to a week of multiple training sessions where they can find out more about their players personalities and imprint the framework they want for the season ahead.
How that translates to a competitive game against Helsingor on Saturday remains to be seen. Perhaps only then will the players be allowed to indulge in a bit of old fashioned pre-season preparation.
Source
Wanderers are heading into Europe at a time when fashion dictates they should be going the other way.
Swapping the windy open plains of Lostock for the modest, but immaculate, Swedish suburb of Orlov, Phil Parkinson has a full week to really suss out what he has inherited with the Whites.
Pre-season tours were traditionally a bonding exercise for new signings to get to know their team-mates, for camaraderie to be formed before the serious action begins. But in recent years, Wanderers have used the time to test their players in isolation, with merry-making kept to a bare minimum.
Recent arrivals Mark Beevers and Chris Taylor were on the plane to Copenhagen on Sunday evening and – it is hoped – at least one more player will be booking a flight this week.
Establishing a rapport between the squad will be an important aspect of the trip, not least for the backroom staff who are themselves newcomers to the club.
Parkinson will also want to make his mark on the training ground, installing some much-needed discipline and shape to the team he has inherited, a blueprint for the future.
For the last few years Wanderers have favoured out-of-the-way locations in the Austrian Alps, a secluded Spanish academy or the conservative surroundings of Sweden to get the bulk of their physical work done.
Prior to Parkinson, Neil Lennon and Dougie Freedman, Owen Coyle placed greater emphasis on the facilities and so favoured a trip to North America two years running. Over in the US and Canada Wanderers were able to use some extraordinary college bases – and even picked up some silverware (The Carlsberg Cup) with a win in Toronto.
Coyle’s training camps, as you might expect, were jam-packed with activities to keep the players entertained and the levels of competitiveness high.
Travelling those distances did create its own issues, however, and it is noticeable that after a few years spanning the globe the club has sought closer bases in Europe.
Occasionally, circumstances dictated that a late booking was required. Memorably, Gary Megson’s Whites were left training in the blazing hot Greek sun in 2008 because they could not secure a tour in a more moderate climate, not knowing whether their Premier League future would be secured until the final day of the previous season.
Once Megson was able to pick his own destination he opted for a hugely-structured tour of Germany and Holland, organised by his assistant Chris Evans. What the trip lacked in excitement was certainly made up for in physical toil and players who accompanied Wanderers on that tour still talk about how tough it was.
The last time the Whites visited Scandinavia was under Freedman. A well-planned trip certainly had an element of fun, with players divided up into teams for the 10 days to compete in a mini-Olympics. But the Scot – like Parkinson – wanted desperately to impose a new tactical approach on the training ground. His chief problem was that the lynchpin, Lukas Jutkiewicz, was still back home in the UK and set to sign for Burnley.
Lennon’s only pre-season was spent hiking up and down the narrow lanes of Pollau, Austria. The intense speculation over the Leicester City job at the time ensured that camp was a testing one for us media types, and his preparations bizarrely came under fire from Dutch fitness expert Raymond Vernheijen on social media.
This season has been an exercise in guess-timation. Two friendlies were booked against HB Koge and FC Helsingor and a base in Malmo without a manager in place. Once he had his feet under the table, Parkinson felt the competitive friendlies were arriving too early and so asked that the Koge game be cancelled.
At Bradford, the new Wanderers boss based his side in Ireland and Scotland to minimise travel and disruption – which might well hint at his plans for next summer.
Whereas the social aspect of a tour once outweighed the physical, this week’s trip will be no picnic. Parkinson and his staff have looked forward to a week of multiple training sessions where they can find out more about their players personalities and imprint the framework they want for the season ahead.
How that translates to a competitive game against Helsingor on Saturday remains to be seen. Perhaps only then will the players be allowed to indulge in a bit of old fashioned pre-season preparation.
Source